WHAT DOETH HINDER US?
There is much debate in some places and little debate in others as to the barriers that people of African descent face worldwide. There can be no doubt about the historical facts of the various deliberate attempts to hinder the progress of Africans in this world and exploit their talents and skills. The greed and ethnocentric nature of European cultures has bred a continuous lineage of monarchs, despots, dictators, politicians and business moguls conspiring to develop and manipulate laws, policies and procedures to create opportunities and prosperity for themselves through the manipulation, exploitation or exclusion of others. The element of greed dictates that anyone can be exploited but the element of ethnocentricism dictates that when present, Africans will be exploited first and often to the exclusion of other cultures.
This process over the centuries has become an ingrained practice repeated time and time again under various names for various trumped up "justifiable" reasons, though the true motivation and outcome are always the same. The process usually begins with an unfulfilled need that one group of people are either unable or unwilling to fulfill. So someone else must be found to perform whatever tasks it takes to satisfy this desire. Once those certain some ones have been found we reach a crossroad in this process.
If the people are willingly submissive and agreeable to meeting the need of others then the end can be realized by legitimizing this arrangement with some type of binding contract or treaty arrangement. Thus we have the beginning of a relationship of voluntary subjugation or covert exploitation. Though certainly this voluntary arrangement would need to be enforced with certain penalties against breach of contract by either party.
However, if the people do not agree to voluntarily meet the need or desire of the parties in question, or should the initial voluntary arrangement become unpalatable and not compromisable through negotiation, then the situation changes dramatically. Particularly when no one else can be found to meet the need, the situation will become more desperate. The relationship now is transformed from one of cooperation and mutual benefit to one of coercion and overt exploitation. The tension of the situation breeds discontent on both sides and begins and a lop-sided power struggle. This power struggle favors those already in power, armed with the weapons of media control, economic control, political control, legislative control, education control and control of brute force through the military and police (Legitimately or through paramilitary and vigilantes illegitimately). Those on the other side of this confrontation are initially only armed with the power of influence and conscience. With time and support they will gain the more tangible trappings of power. But until that time comes, those in power will use all of the means at their disposal in incremental, escalating fashion, to bring about their intended outcome.
To give this process a name, let's call it the Overt Ethnocentric Dominance Process. As was illustrated previously, this process' goal is racial superiority and control, by any means necessary. But the pattern usually goes something like this:
1. Opportunity to create discontent among the dominant group.
Actually, any excuse will do. Life being what life is, you need only to wait a brief while before some shortfall, crisis or natural disaster will happen. This "opportunity" is inevitable.
2. Use propaganda to blame and create "pre-justification" for whatever outcome is desired.
This enlists the use of the media and the formal education system to disseminate the desired information to amplify the problems, generate fear and identify a scapegoat to the general public. This is the stage of swaying and winning the hearts and minds of the people.
3. Verbal mass protest.
With the use of the few, well placed, instigators skillfully utilizing the propaganda provided by media and formal education, groups of people can be motivated to begin to act out their "own" or more accurately, 'learned" displeasure. Initially, in small groups at the club or at the picnics or at the lodge or at the break room. But then this action of verbalization takes place at the home meeting then at the auditorium than at the public rally than at the march, etc., etc., etc. This stage is important because it signifies the beginning of a linkage between what has been learned and actually believed to the point of action. And it is a good measurement for the degree of control of the masses. At this point the group being challenged could simply succumb and be subjugated or it can continue to resist. But should they resist....
4. Physical conflict.
Thanks to propaganda, at this point the masses of the dominant group are convinced of their right to rule. At this point they are convinced of the other group's responsibility in causing the woes they now suffer. At this point they feel truly justified in carrying out whatever actions they deem fit to "correct" this wrong and restore things to the "way God intended it to be" or "to achieve their manifest destiny" or "to ensure their rightful place in the world." So with all the power of brute military or police force, they beat down their opposition. All in the name of progressive change or restoration of order.
5. Legislative change.
Through the political-legislative process this dominance is legitimized through passing laws to maintain the status quo through penalties so that the true, noble and honest citizens with a conscience (those most likely to rebel) will feel some moral discomfort in trying to change the way things are and resign themselves to "Well, that's just the way it is around here now."
6. Selective enforcement.
Through selective enforcement of the law on certain groups, in certain location, at certain times, for certain reasons, the rule of law can be applied where ever it is needed to ensure things work as they should and certain people don't get out of line.
The result of the Overt Ethnocentric Dominance Process is the same as the more subtle covert version: social-political-economic control with money, wealth and material gain being the ultimate resource for its ultimate end-POWER. It is not the money itself that is the goal. It is not wealth itself that is the outcome. It is not material gain itself that is the prize. But it is the assumption of power that the question of these commodities brings with it. The love of money truly is the root of all evil because of its linkage with power and the misconception of its "owner" that he is all powerful because he has it all. And so we have this desperate human struggle for power, which in reality is an illusion based solely on the internal mental perceptions of those who determine its true value. Yet this is why we seek to dominate, manipulate, control or subjugate one another. This is the true reason for the replay of this process throughout history under many "different" banners and for many "different" causes resulting in may "different" outcomes given many "different' names, only to disguise this blatant repetition. But for those who make themselves enlightened...
The Indian Reservations justified by the greed of Robber Barons in industrialization of western expansionism in the United States
The Plantation System of Slavery justified the greed of southern landowners in the United States
The Housing Projects of Jim Crow to justify the greed of corporate America in capitalizing on urban real estate under the guise of urban renewal and development in the United States
The Homelands of Apartheid justified by the greed of white South Africans in the raping, pillaging and looting of the land for its precious resources of food, oil and gems while raping, pillaging and looting its black South African people of their precious resources of pride, culture and community
The Ghettos of the Holocaust in Poland justified by the greed of Hitler for power and pride and fueled by the fear and distrust of a generation of a defeated people
The Camps of Ethnic Cleansing in Bosnia justified by the pride of race and the greed for territory
The Ethnic Cleansing In Rwanda justified by the pride of race and revenge
The Japanese Relocation Camps of World War II justified by the fears and predjudice of a hurt people
The Palestinian Settlements justified by the 'manifest destiny' of a 'chosen people'
Etc., etc., etc., etc., what is "different" is the same.
With the reality of the conspiratory nature of the social-political-economic system that we live in that builds that barriers of racist social-political-economic policy reinforced and perpetuated by barrier systems of media, business, education and justice, we can blame the "white man's system" for putting us in a position of so-called "inferiority." But we can only blame ourselves if we stay in this position. The answer is not simply to put a black man in their system because he'll only function according to their system. And neither can we expect one man to change their system in a timely fashion that will benefit us all. What we must realize is that our struggle is not man with man but system with system and culture with culture with the goal being mutual life. Because the death of one leads to the death of the other. The goal is to develop a symbiotic, synergistic relationship which offers and receives to mutually satisfy needs. But before this can be developed between two different groups, it must first be developed within each individual group.
Unity is life and prosperity! Fragmentation is death and poverty!
We must unite as African people! We must unite in purpose! We must establish a common agenda that will benefit us all and not just a select few. We must achieve this through the unification of our minds along a positive path that we choose and control for ourselves. we truly must overcome. But what we must overcome is ourselves, not them. Surely they've created this mess through their maliciousness and greed but we perpetuate it through our continuous repetition of the same errors and negative psychological patterns day after day. We defeat ourselves through: not placing enough value on reading and studying on our own to gain knowledge and information; not expanding our vocabulary and improving our grammar to broaden the network of people we are able to communicate and share ideas with; not establishing vivid, positive goals to strive for so that we have a focus for our energy and talents and not wastefully wander without direction; and finally not understanding the real power of our minds to propel us where ever we may want to go, negatively or positively according to what we put into it. And this mental aspect is the core issue we should focus upon if we are to make effective change.
At this point I'd like to deliberately focus on the issue of utilizing the power of the brain. Every action ever taken, every success ever achieved, every answer ever found or every result that ever occurred was initiated with deliberate thoughts or spontaneous ideas. You must think of your brain as the most powerful computer ever built with thoughts and ideas being the outputs of this computer. And your memory is the information storage for your computer brain where information for solutions is found. There are a few rules you must be aware of in controlling the way you brain functions for you. First, your brain will give an answer for every question that you ask it, based on the information you have stored in your memory and information given you at the time of asking your brain for the answer. Have you ever asked someone a question and they gave you the wrong answer but they were convinced it was correct? Well, to them it was correct because it was based on limited information they had stored in their memories. That's why it is important to read and study to increase the breadth and depth of information you have available to you to think with. Secondly, your brain interprets what you imagine as reality. It cannot distinguish between what is real and what is imagined. I'm sure you know people who see and hear things that simply did not happen. Police often relate how unreliable eyewitness accounts can be when compared with the accounts of other eyewitnesses. They all witness the same event yet have conflicting interpretations of the details. Be careful to use the mental imagery of you imagination to create a positive realty for your brain to accept and use to create positive thoughts. Mental imagery or imagination is vitally important because whatever you can conceive in your mind, you can achieve. Thirdly, everything you see, hear, touch, taste or smell is used as information for your brain. It is up to you to monitor what is inputted into your computer brain in order for you to get the results that you desire. Be very careful what you allow yourself to read, watch, listen to, touch, feel or experience. Be very careful of who you allow yourself to be around because they influence your brain by what they input into it through conversation, physical contact or shared experiences. And lastly, you can control what you think, and therefore the tangible results and circumstances in your life are up to you. If you are not getting the results you want in life then maybe you've allowed yourselves to fall into a negative thought pattern that naturally leads to negative results. Or maybe you just haven't invested the time and effort to expose yourself to the information your brain needs to have in order to give you the proper thoughts and ideas that you need to be successful. Or maybe you need to just break away from negative people who only say "I can't." all the time or blame everyone else for their problems instead of doing something about it themselves. I'm sure you've been around people who come up with all kinds of excuses as to why they can't do something or why an idea can't work, even before they try. In doing this they tell their brains all the reasons why it can't or shouldn’t come up with a solution, so it doesn't. If you are around people like this you are doomed to failure. If you honestly believe you can't do something, say that you can't but also end it with "yet." That way your brain continues to search for a solution.
In conclusion, African people must never forget that the Ethnocentric Dominance Process is a mental process. In order for us to win and defeat this process we must change the way we think. We must stop denying our rich heritage and believe in its greatness. We must live in the shadow that is still casts by its fading light and live in the shadow of its renewal. To deny it is to destroy the blueprints for its rebuilding. We must stop belittling ourselves with the negative stereotypical mental programming that they handed down to us. We are not "nigger" or "hoes" and should not think of ourselves as such lest we become so through negative thoughts and confession. We must stop allowing our talents and abilities to be sifted from our race and culture for meager pay. Because no matter how much they pay us it's still only a fraction of what we could have if we actually owned the business. We must redefine what slavery means to us in order to see that we are still in it. Slavery is not just performing laborious tasks against your will for no monetary compensation. It is simply performing work that is of no value or benefit to you. We must develop businesses and corporations of our own in every field and industry. Instead of complaining about what foreigners are able to come here and accomplish, we should believe we can do the same.
If African people in America do not change their thinking, the consequences of such thinking will never change. If we never change our thinking, the males in our culture shall continue to decay morally, mentally, emotionally and physically. They will continue to over populate the prisons and morgues of this nation, while being under represented in the dining rooms of their families and the boardrooms of big businesses. If we never change our thinking, the females in our culture shall continue to lose value as people and lose the respect and honor they are truly due. If we never change our thinking, the destruction of our families shall continue to erode thus leading to the collapse of our community and culture. If we never change our thinking, we shall continue to fall into the deceptively alluring trap of materialism without power or influence and be left with emptiness, want and lack of fulfillment. We must change. There has simply been too much blood shed by too many people for us to simply resign ourselves to the status quo or be lulled into complacency by what we define as material prosperity. And quite frankly, more blood may still need to be shed on our parts. But only in the fight for securing for ourselves what we determine we need and desire as a people. It is the accepted calling of great men to die for what they believe in. And it is their blood that waters the seeds of greatness in the next generation, should they choose to walk in the ways of greatness. The only real barrier is fear.
Commentary by:
@son_of_carthage
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